Collapsible universal book support



S, L. CARR COLLAPSIBLE UNIVERSAL BooK SUPPORT Filed Dec. 2, 1955 d INVENTOR. Sav/var LEE CAKE. Bu/Vf/V( V40' ATTORNEY lllllllllllm x /IV l ll l ll l Patented Jan. 4, 1938 PATENT OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE UNIVERSAL BooK SUPPORT SidneyV Lee Carr,"Palo Alto, Calif., assignor of.

vone-half to Julia Larson,

Calif.

San Francisco, Y

Application December 2, 1935, Serial No. 52,533

2 claims.

My'invention relates to improvements in collapsible universal book supports, and it consists of the combinations;constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a collapsible universal book support which makes use `of a Yolding'base designed to be supported 4directly by thefloor. An'upright is hinged to the base and also has freedom oi a limited rotative movement about its longitudinal axis. Any arm is adjustably carried by the upright'and may be raised vertically into the desired position. A collapsible book holder is slidable alongthe arm and has a universal connection therewith. With this arrangement it is ypossible for the book holder to be raised to any desired position above the bed,

f and then to beswung horizontally over the bed into, the desired place and finally to be disposed at the desired angular position with respect to the supportingarm. .The devicemay be manipulated by, one hand of the operator.

',It is possible to dismantle the entire jdevice so that itwill occupy Very little space when stored away. 'I'he book holder is collapsible and carries ,a lightfixture that is designed to throw a light directly onto the book, the light fixture being provided with a shield to prevent the light rays from striking the readers eyes. An electric light cord extends from the light fixture to the top of the upright and a plug connects this cord with a cord extending up through the upright. The latter cord is passed out through an opening adjacent to the bottom of the upright and leads to an electrical outlet box or the like. The base when folded and'swungY about its yhinge will lie adjacent to the upright, and will extend parallel therewith. The arm may be entirely removed from the upright and placed alongside of the ,upright in parallel relation.v A strap may now be usedfor holding the parts` in folded position. The device is extremely simple in construction and is preferably made of hollow metal noncircular in cross section so that the various parts will have a sliding arrangement with respect to each other but still be -held against rotational movement.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specication, and the novel features of the device will be particularh7 pointed out-inL the appended claims. My invention. is illustrated in the accompanying drawingforming a part of this application, in which f Figure llis a perspective view of the entire device shown positionedadjacent to a bed;

Figure 2 is a Abottom plan view of the base shown collapsed;

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the lower portion of the upright and through the base, and

illustrates in dotted lines the folded position of I,

the upright with respect to the base; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the book holder and a portion of the supporting arm.

In carrying out my invention I provide a folding base indicated generally at A, an upright indicated generally at B, an arm indicated at C, and a book holder D.

I will rst describe the base, and this is shown in Figures 1,'2,` and 3. The base has a central foot land two side feet 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows ends of thepivot pins 4 and 5. It will be noted .1.5 the side feet 2 and 3 being pivotally secured, at

from Figure 2 that the inner ends of the feet 2 and 3 are `cut at an angle as at 8 and 9, and this limits the outward swinging movement of the feet above the pivots 4 and 5. In addition I show links 9' vand ID pivotally connecting the outer permit the outer feet to be swung into parallel relation with respect to the central foot but limit the outward swinging of the feet 2 and 3 away from the central foot. If desired gliders II may f25 feet'2 and. 3 with the central footA I. These links v.so

be disposed at the under surfaces of the feet, see

Figure 2. .v

The folding base A supports the upright B. Figure 3 shows the upright B as consisting ofv a column I2 non-circular in cross section, and provided with an integral flange I3 at its lower extremity. The flange I3 is in the shape of a disc and is pivotally secured to a second disc I4 by means of a pin I5. Figure 3 shows the disc I4 provided with an opening I6 for receiving a screw IIand further Shows the disc I3 provided with an arcuate slot I8 for also receiving the screw II. The top of the screw is bent at right angles as shown at I9, and when the screw is disposed in the position shown in Figures 1 and 3 the discs I3 and I4 are held against the central leg I of the folding base. The arcuate slot I8 is long enough as shown in Figure l, to permit a slight rocking movement of the upright B about its longitudinal axis for a purpose hereinafter described. `The upright in being thus vmoved through a slight angular kdistance rotates on the pin I5, and rides upon the disc I4. The disc I4 is also connected to the foot I by a hinge 20. When the handle I9 of the screw I'I is swung into a position registering with the arcuate slot I8, the upright B can be swung about the hinge 20 into the dottedline position shown in Figure 3.

The legs of the folding Ybase can also be swung into collapsed position, and this will cause the leg to parallel the upright when the device is folded for storage.

It will be seen that the screw I'I performs the double function of not only limiting lthe rotational movement of the upright B about its longi-l tudinal axis, but also acts as a securing means for holding the discs I3 and I4 down upon the base A, and therefore the upright Bis maintained in a vertical position with respect to the base.

The arm C comprises an elongated hollow member V2l preferably made of metal and non-circular in cross Section. A strap 22 slidably connects the member 2l to the upright I2. A projection 23 is carried by the member 2I, and this projec? tion has a straight edge 24 slidably contacting with a flat face of the member I2. The yweight of the arm C is such asto tend to fulcrum about the strap 22 as a pivot. This will cause the edge 24 to frictionally` engage with the adjacent face of the member I2 with sufficient force to hold the arm in adjusted position. The arm may Ybe readily moved vertically along the upright B into the desired position, and will remain in such position. v

In Figure 4 I show the arm C slidably carrying a sleeve 25. The sleeve is also non-circular in cross section and conforms with the cross sectional shape of the member 2I. This will prevent the sleeve from rotating with respect to the arm C. In like manner the strap 22 has a cross sectional shape similar to the cross sectional shape of the upright I2. This will prevent the arm C from rotating with respect to the upright B.

In Figure 1 I show a book holder D which may be folded when not in use. The holder consists of a central member 2B and pairs of parallel links 21 are pivoted to the central member and extend in opposite directions. Side members 28 are pivoted to the links 21. Book supportingY members 29 are pivoted to the bottoms ofthe center member 26 and the side members 28. These book supporting members 29 carry flanges 30 that are spaced from the rear upturned edges 3l of the book supporting members 29. The space between the flanges 30 and the upturned edges 3I is sufficient to receive the covers 32 of a book 33, i

see Figure 4. Clips 35 are pivoted to the sides 28 and are designed to engage with the covers 30 of the book. In this way the book is secured to the book holder. The leaves of the book are held against turning by a cord 36 that has its ends connected by coil springs 31 to the side members 28. Figure 4 shows the cord 36 extending across the pages or leaves 33 of the book.

The central'member 26 of the book holder D carries a spherical-shaped memberV 38. This member is rockably received in a split socket 39 which in turn is carried by the sleeve 25,'see Figure 4. A wing nut 49 disposed on a bolt 4I may be tightened for causing the two portions of the split socket 39 to frictionally engage with the spherical portion 38 with suicient force to hold the book holder D in adjusted position, and still permit the holder to be swung into different angular positions.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

jects upwardly through the hollow member I2, see Figure 3. A second electric cord 43 is connected to the electric cord 42 by means of a standard plug 44. This connection is made at the top of the member I2. The cord 43 extends to a flexible light fixture 44 which is carried by the book holder D. The light fixture 44 supports a shield 45 that will direct the light rays down upon the book and still shield the eyes of the reader. The shield is so designed as to permit the heat generated by the light to pass up- In using the device'the base A is swung beneath the disc I IlV and then the screw handle I9 is swung to extend-at right angles to the slot I8. The feet 2 and 3of'the base are swung into Voperative position,v and'then the base is moved beneath a'bed 46 to the'desired place. The arm C is mounted on the upright Band the sleeve 25 is mounted on the arm. The book holder D isY moved into open position, and the book is clamped in place-in themanner already indicated. `The electricrlight cord 43 is connected to thefcord 42 by the plug 4.4. VThe device is now ready for use.

It will be noted that the person lying in bed can, with one hand, swing the arm C horizontally through `the desired distance in order to move the book holder D horizontally. This swinging along the arm C andY can adjust the book holder.

into the desired angular position by means of the universal joint consisting of the spherical head 38 and the socket 39. If desired the sleeve 25 maybe removed temporarily from ,the arm C and then swung angularly into a different position, and then' again mounted on the arm C. This will permit the book holder to depend below the arm C, and when the device is in this posi- `tion the person can lie flaton his back and look upwardly when reading the book, since Vthe book can be supported in an upside down position. It will be noted that regardless of the position of the book holder the book will be correctly illuminated by the light.Y The device can also hold a book Vin any position in which the book would be held by hand. This will permit a person to sit up in bed or to assume other positions, and still be able to read.

When collapsing the device for storage the upright B is swung around into the dotted line position with respect to the base A as indicated in Figure 3. 'The arm C is likewise placed in parallel relation with the upright and base, and then a strap 41 secures the parts together, When Ythe device is folded for strapping the book holdthe base and swingable into a position to be sup-V ported by the base, a second disc rotatably connected to the rst disc and having an arcuate slot therein registering with the slot in the firstnamed disc, Van upright carried by the second disc, and locking means carried by the base and supporting member hinged to the base, an up` right rotatably supported by the member, and means for securing the member to the base and -for limiting the rotative movement of the up- `rightvvitl'i respect to the member.

SIDNEY LEE CARR. 

